The present invention relates to an apparatus for preparing a shari (sushi rice, namely, vinegared rice) by blending a boiled rice and vinegar in a rotating blender on blending vessel.
There are many kinds of sushi and the most popular sushi is nigiri-zushi. The nigiri-zushi is made by handpressing a ball of shari or vinegared rice shaping up in a predetermined shape, and then a neta (for example, a piece of tuna, cuttlefish, octopus, and mackerel and the like) is placed on the pressed ball of shari.
The shari or vinegared rice is prepared by steaming boiled rice, quickly transferring it to a wooden vessel (called fune), sprinkling a vinegar on the steamed rice, and finally blending the rice and a vinegar by using a wooden spoon.
It is necessary to quickly cool the surfaces of the rice grains by blowing them strongly using a fan in order to glaze the rice. That is, excess water around the surfaces of the rice grains is blown away in order to cool them, thus thin films of starch are made on the surfaces. Consequently, glazed shari that is not sticky is obtained.
Nowadays, as described above, vinegared rice has been prepared by hands.
It is apparent that all works for preparing vinegared rice adapted to be used to make the nigirizushi are done by hands, blending the boiled rice and a vinegar and blowing the blended mix. Consequently, it is troublesome and it has been almost impossible to mass-produce the vinegared rice.